The Fourth “Whereas”

Abstract

If we were to recast the case argued in the foregoing chapters as a formal resolution, it would look something like the following:

1.

Whereas humans (i.e., Homo sapiens) are social primates and, like all social, are predisposed by their evolutionary history to live in hierarchically organized structures; and

2.

Whereas, as a consequence, democratic polities (1) require special enabling for their birth and survival, conditions that need considerable time to develop and mature; are (2) fragile and relatively shortlived; (3) have been and continue even today, in the so-called Age of Democracy, to be very much a minority form of government; and

3.

Whereas attempts to export democracy, that is, nation building, (1) with few exceptions have been markedly unsuccessful; and (2) where successful, have required substantial investments of time and resources by the state(s) making this attempt; and (3) the long-term success of democracy is closely tied to the health and viability of its major political exponent, the United States.